The virus that causes COVID-19 has wreaked havoc in the Athens-Clarke County area and around the world. From grocery stores to restaurants, its effects can be seen anywhere. Nowhere has the virus’ impact been more evident than in local hospitals and medical facilities. For months the hospitals in Athens-Clarke County, which serve a six-county area, have been reaching bed capacities. Oconee, Franklin, Hart, Greene and Putnam all feed patients to these facilities. When a hospital hits bed capacity, patients must be diverted to other facilities, delaying the time it takes for them to receive life-saving care. A tour to several of the area’s large health facilities show the strain the virus has had on their resources. Long lines outside of emergency rooms, for patients and ambulances, shows that the virus is still in full swing in our area.
Patients and their families line up outside the entrance to Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center’s emergency department on Thursday, October 9, 2020, in Athens, Georgia. During this time the emergency department, according to the Georgia EMS Coordinating Center, was unable to accept incoming ambulance traffic because it was at capacity. (Photo/Jared Eggleston, jce23066@uga.edu)
Ambulances line up to drop their patients off at the ambulance entrance of Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center’s emergency department on Thursday, October 8, 2020 in Athens, GA. (Photo/Jared Eggleston, jce23066@uga.edu)
Signage points patients to where they should go to be screened for signs and symptoms of the novel coronavirus prior to entering St. Mary’s Hospital on Thursday, October, 8, 2020. Patients and their visitors must answer several questions and have their temperature taken prior to being admitted to the facility. (Photo/Jared Eggleston, jce23066@uga.edu)
A tent is set up for drive-thru testing for the virus that causes COVID-19 outside of an urgent care center ran by Piedmont Athens Regional located at Piedmont’s Oconee Health Campus on Thursday, October 8, 2020. Patients have to set up an appointment prior to visiting the site to get tested. (Photo/Jared Eggleston, jce23066@uga.edu)
Signs direct patients to where they are to go to be tested for the virus that causes COVID-19 at St. Mary’s Health Care System’s outpatient clinic located in Oconee County on Thursday, October 8, 2020. Patients who are having procedures at any of the system’s locations must be tested for the virus that causes COVID-19 in the days leading up to their procedure. (Photo/Jared Eggleston, jce23066@uga.edu)
Signs at the Oconee Health Campus of Piedmont Athens Regional point patients to the Urgent Care office on Thursday, October 8, 2020, where patients can be treated for a number of issues, including testing for the virus that causes COVID-19. (Photo/Jared Eggleston, jce23066@uga.edu)
